Traditional surgical procedures are open procedures. In an open surgical procedure, a surgeon makes a large incision on a patient in order to view and correct physical ailments using surgical tools. Open procedures have several drawbacks. The large surgical incisions used to perform open procedures can become infected. Surgeons may damage surrounding tissues during open procedures, while trying to manipulate the surgical site. Open procedures often require patients to undergo full anesthesia, which independently increases risks of death and/or serious complications. In addition, open procedures can cause patients severe discomfort during recovery periods.
In order to avoid the complications of open procedures, surgeons have developed minimally invasive surgical techniques to perform surgeries that were traditionally performed as open procedures. In contrast to open procedures, minimally invasive procedures can be performed by inserting surgical tools through small incisions in a patient's skin. Minimally invasive procedures have various advantages over open procedures, including lower infection risks, lower patient discomfort, and lower anesthesia requirements.
The small incisions used in minimally invasive procedures make viewing the surgical field difficult. Accordingly, surgeons generally use imaging devices, e.g., endoscopes, during minimally invasive procedures in order to indirectly view the surgical field. Some of these imaging devices must be inserted into a patient's body through the small incisions.
Arthroscopy is a type of minimally invasive orthopedic procedure performed in a skeletal joint cavity. An arthroscope includes a camera that may be inserted directly into a skeletal joint. With help from the arthroscope, surgeons can diagnose various problems related to the skeletal joint.
In certain cases, arthroscopes can be used to determine whether a therapeutic material should be delivered to the skeletal joint. For example, a surgeon may use an arthroscope to determine whether to deliver a drug, stem cells, or anesthesia for a future procedure to the skeletal joint. Some of these therapeutic materials can be injected using a syringe and a needle.